Ollie paints.... Flames of War

I’ve been a historical gamer on and off for a few years with Bolt Action, in between all the other systems I play. Recently we had the rather interesting thread about how difficult it can be to get started with historical gaming (if you missed it – https://www.beastsofwar.com/forums/topic/inaccessibility-of-historical-wargaming/ ). I’ve been toying with starting FoW again for a while having had a brief dabble in v3 with the Open Fire starter set but didn’t get far as I couldn’t encourage the locals. So I joined a few FB groups to see the lay of the land as it were, and whilst there saw an event aimed at newcomers to v4. Unfortunately life got in the way so I couldn’t make it to this one, but got me thinking about getting an army ready for such an event in the future, which is where this project comes in and you can follow the progress of the build and painting. As someone who’s spent the majority of his gaming life (~25yrs) with 28mm this is a bit of a change and will be trying some new techniques out and seeing where it goes from there.

So, where to start? Picked up the v4 rulebook, had a read through, picked up Armoured Fist and Fighting First for the mid-war Brits and US…. also picked up Armies of Late War as the generic starter book for the period…. decisions decisions….. wrote a few lists trying to flesh out where to go… nope can’t decide on one army so picked a few….

Firstly,  Mid-war – 78th Battleaxe division, a Brit’s Churchill Armoured Squadron from Armoured Fist. Why? Because I liked the minis, always a good place to start. Plus my grandad was out in the western desert with the RAF so I get a few stories from him now and again.

Next, Late-War – Again went with Brits, a Cromwell Armoured Squadron from Armies of Late War. Picked this as I also wanted a US force for Normandy, and didn’t want 2 armies full of Shermans. So finally, very late war and purely because I saw the box on the shop website, picked up the Grimball’s Beasts Tank Company box from Bridge at Remagen (v3) but adapted using the Armies of Late War book for v4….

Postman arrived today with a large box for me…. so here we go! 🙂